Derbyshire’s homelessness support during pandemic recognised nationally
The efforts of those involved to house rough sleepers in Derbyshire following the outbreak of Covid-19 have been recognised nationally in the Local Government Association (LGA) briefing paper on the response to accommodating rough sleepers during the pandemic.
Chesterfield Borough Council has been actively engaged in The Derbyshire Homeless Officers Group, delivering Derbyshire’s response to the Government’s “Everyone In” initiative, a national effort.
In Chesterfield, the council has successfully provided temporary accommodation for 30 rough sleepers across the borough.
Local hotels and bed & breakfast facilities were commissioned alongside existing accommodation options. In addition, the council developed a number of new temporary accommodation units within its own housing stock to ensure that all who needed a safe place to stay during the pandemic could be accommodated.
Following the success of the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, the council is now working on ‘Keeping Everyone In’, developing new support arrangements and services to try and ensure that all who have been temporarily accommodated are able to access suitable, permanent accommodation.
Councillor Chris Ludlow, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “The way in which the council and our partners have come together to ensure we could house all of the borough’s rough sleepers through the period of the Covid-19 lockdown has been nothing short of outstanding.”
“However, using hotels and other establishments as temporary accommodation was only ever going to be a short-term solution. Our aim now is to ensure that all of our rough sleepers have an offer of suitable, permanent accommodation and access to wrap-around support services to give them the very best chance of re-building their lives.”
Chesterfield Borough Council have also announced that due to the easing of Government restrictions on the housing market and people being able to move homes, they will be restarting the advertising of council homes through Chesterfield Home Options from Monday 22 June.
